FIFA 18

You may recall that FIFA’s appearance on Wii U was very short-lived. After FIFA 13, that was pretty much it for the console. With FIFA and Switch, however, things are likely to be different.

FIFA supervising producer Andrei Lazarescu told GameSpot, “I think we are going to see more FIFA on Switch in the future.” He also feels that FIFA 18 on Switch is “the best portable FIFA we’ve ever done”.

Eurogamer recently spoke with Andrei Lăzărescu, a developer at EA Sports Bucharest working on FIFA 18. The site asked about missing content such as the FUT Champions and Squad Battles modes, and whether this is because they expect more casual play on Switch.

Lăzărescu said in response:

“I see it as being more social. …casual represents different things to different people. I look at them as two different games, two different worlds, that I think we should take for what they are, and keep in mind that we should not try to force people onto certain things just because it works on a certain platform.”

FIFA 18 is using a different engine on Switch than other platforms. On PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, EA is using Frostbite. This is what allows for features like the Journey follow-up, the new ‘cinematic’ Career Mode transfers, a special animation system, and more detailed stadiums and crowds. Lăzărescu feels that the Switch hardware “is very difficult,” and a future mode exactly like the Journey is “unlikely.” He also added that the aforementioned additions “would take an army of people, if it was possible, to be done.”

The Switch version of FIFA 18 doesn’t use Frostbite similar to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions. EA did, however, come up with its own custom engine for Nintendo’s console.

Explaining why the team decided against using Frostbite on Switch, developer Andrei Lazarescu noted:

“As much as we would have wanted to (use Frostbite) you can’t without making the whole engine work. We intentionally chose to do a custom engine because we felt that rather and try and get Frostbite running and end up having to downsize things and making it just a smaller, lower-quality version of the PS4 and Xbox One versions, we wanted this to be a FIFA that stands on its own two feet. We want people to recognise it and play it for what it is rather than saying, hey, you’re getting a sh***y, second-rate game. This is a full FIFA that players players will enjoy.”

FIFA 18 should be a smooth experience all around on Switch. In both docked and portable modes, the game will run at 60 frames per second.

Supervising producer Andrei Lazarescu also confirmed that FIFA 18 will feature a 1080p resolution when docked. In portable mode, the game is 720p.

Lazarescu said:

“We spent a lot of time actually understanding what the console is. In dock, what we’re seeing right now, for example, is 1080p run running at 60 frames per second. When you plug out and you play in handheld it’s 720p. We spent a lot of time making sure that transition happens seamlessly and you still get 60 frames per second.”

During the Twitch Gamescom stream earlier today, EA stopped by to show off the Switch version of FIFA 18. Technically, this is the first direct-feed footage we have of the game as opposed to it being off-screen. Check out the gameplay below.

EA Sports held a FIFA 18 live stream earlier today. The publisher showcased the full feature set for FIFA 18 Ultimate Team, more FUT ICONS, gameplay, and more. EA also briefly showed and talked about the Switch version at the 1:11:00 mark. For the full recording, continue on below.